Home-to-school transport costs in England have risen to £2.3bn a year, as increasing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities travel farther afield to schools that can meet their requirements, according to a report.
More than half a million children and young people up to the age of 25 now get council-funded transport from their home to school or college, triggering a £415m overspend by local authorities last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) found.
Of the 470,000 children under 16 who benefit, about 40% (180,000) have special educational needs and disabilities (Send), but councils spend approximately five times more on transport for Send pupils than others (£8,116 v £1,526), as they often have to travel further in single-occupancy taxis, contributing to a 70% real-terms increase in spending overall in the past eight years.
Home-to-school transport is one of the fastest growing areas of local authority spending, according to the NAO, at a time when councils are struggling with growing deficits due to the sharp rise in the number of children and young people being assessed as needing education, health and care plans.
The BBC reported this week that Reform UK’s George Finch, who became leader of Warwickshire county council at age 18, wrote to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, seeking permission to revise the rules around pupil eligibility for free transport to save money.
Phillipson said the plans, which could see pupils as young as eight walking up to five miles to school, showed Reform posed a danger to children.
The government announced last week it was delaying the publication of its long-awaited white paper detailing plans to overhaul Send provision until next year. In its report on Friday, the NAO urged ministers to address home-to-school transport as part of its Send reforms.
Local authorities are required to provide free transport for school-age children who cannot walk to their nearest suitable school due to distance, special educational needs or disabilities, or safety concerns, with extra support for low-income families.
Because of the growing bill, however, the NAO said many councils were reducing provision of additional discretionary transport. As well as the increase in Send pupils, expenditure has gone up because of increased transport costs and growing demand due to public transport cuts in rural areas.
“Local authorities are making savings to meet their statutory duties, but they are looking to the Department for Education’s upcoming Send reforms to ensure the long-term sustainability of home-to-school transport,” said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO.
Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, expressed concern that the national conversation about children with Send has become focused on cost. “We have to put the needs of these youngsters first and ensure that the Send system and associated costs are sufficiently funded both now and in the future.”
Bill Revans, Send spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said: “Councils in county areas are now spending more on school transport than they are on Sure Start centres, youth services and family services combined. This is unsustainable.”
He called for “root and branch reform” of the Send system. “A key element of this should be enabling greater inclusion in mainstream schools so they can better cater for more Send pupils’ needs, allowing them to be taught locally and reducing the reliance on specialist placements whilst cutting transport costs for local authorities.”
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the public accounts committee, said: “The schools white paper, now delayed to 2026, and forthcoming Send reforms must tackle these unsustainable expenditure rises and ensure that the children and young people who rely on this invaluable service continue to be supported in their access to education.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Work is already under way to make sure more children with Send can achieve and thrive at their local school alongside their peers – including investing £740m to create more specialist school places and increasing access to early support for speech and language needs.
“We’ll set out the full schools white paper in the new year, building on the work we’ve already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and at a school close to home.”
